Microsoft Excel is a computer application program written by Microsoft. It mainly comprises tabs, groups of commands and worksheet. The worksheet is made of rows and columns that intersect each other to form cells where data is entered. It is capable of performing multiple tasks like calculations, data analysis and integrating data.
Microsoft office button, ribbon and quick access toolbar are the three main features of excel that you need to focus on while learning excel.
Office Button in Excel
It is on the top left-corner of excel.
When the office button is clicked, you will find a number of options to perform various tasks that are listed below:
New: To create a new file.
Open: To open an existing file on the computer.
Save: To save changes made in the open file.
Save As: To save the file with specific name to a preferred location in the hard drive of the computer.
Print: To print the hard copy of the open document.
Prepare: To prepare the document for distribution.
Send: To send the copy of the document to others.
Publish: To distribute the document to others.
Close: To close the open document.
Ribbon and Tabs in Excel
Ribbon is on the top of worksheet, below the title bar or name of the excel file. It contains seven tabs: Home, Insert, Page Layout, Formulas, Data, Review and View.
Each tab has its own specific groups of related commands. These groups have several additional commands that can be viewed by clicking the arrow at the right bottom corner of any group.
The features of the Insert tab are:
Tables, Illustrations, Charts, Links, Text
The features of the Page Layout tab are:
Themes, Page Setup, Scale to Fit, Sheet Options and Arrange
The features in the Formula tab are:
Function Library, Defined Names, Formula Auditing, Calculation
The features in the Data tab are:
Get External Data, Connections, Sort & Filter, Data Tools and Outline
The features of the Review tab are:
Proofing, Comments and Changes
The features of the View tab are:
Workbook Views, Show/Hide, Zoom, Window and Macros
Quick Access Toolbar in Excel
It is a customizable toolbar located beside the quick access button and above the home tab. When you click the down arrow at the end of quick access toolbar it displays more commands. You can add any of these commands to quick access toolbar by a left click on the command.
You can also add frequently used commands from office button and ribbon to quick access toolbar. To add a command, right click on it then click on "Add to Quick Access Toolbar" option. The command will be added to Quick Access Toolbar.
See the image given below, after a right click on the Paste command, we get four options, out of which we can select the option "Add to Quick Access Toolbar" with a left click.
Mini Toolbar in Excel
It is a floating toolbar that appears above the shortcut menu when you right click a cell or other objects like a shape or chart. It displays commonly used formatting commands like Bold, Italics, Font Size and Font Color.
Title Bar, Help Button, Zoom Control and View Buttons
Title Bar
It lies next to the quick access toolbar or on top of the excel window. It displays the name of the open document.
Help Button
It lies on top right corner of the excel window beside the option to minimize the window. It is in the form of an encircled question mark. It provides excel related help.
Zoom Control
Zoom control is a slider that lies next to view buttons at the right end of the status bar. It helps zoom in and zoom out the document. Move the slider to right or click on the plus sign to zoom in and move it to left or click on the minus sign to zoom out.
View Buttons
There are three view buttons on the right end of the status bar, to the left of the zoom control. These buttons provide different options to view the document.